Department for Transport

Heathrow Airport: Railways

lord bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to make a progress report on improvements in rail access to Heathrow Airport.

baroness sugg: Network Rail are progressing the design and development of the Western Rail Link to Heathrow and recently concluded a statutory consultation on the proposed alignment of the route. This is a major step for the scheme and is required before Network Rail can submit its planned application to the Planning Inspectorate for the necessary consents in 2019. In respect of the proposed Southern Access scheme, the Department undertook market testing earlier this year. This is the first step in the development process, and will inform the work required before any decision on whether to progress the scheme is made, and if so, how to progress it. For both Western and Southern rail access, a summary of responses to the market testing will be published in due course.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likelihood of the HS2 rail line being delayed by more than one year.

baroness sugg: HS2 Ltd has been set an ambitious target of commencing HS2 Phase One services in 2026. HS2 Ltd are currently working with their contracted suppliers to deliver Phase One. This involves updating and agreeing an assessment of schedule confidence. The Government will make schedule details public as part of the Full Business Case for Phase One due to be published in 2019.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

lord macpherson of earl's court: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their current estimate of the combined cost of phases 1 and 2 of High Speed 2; and what was the estimated cost of phases 1 and 2 in 2010 when the scheme was reviewed.

baroness sugg: The current HS2 funding envelope is £55.73bn (at 2015 prices), as set out in the 2015 Spending Review settlement. This is split between phases, with Phase One set at £27.18bn and Phase 2a&b at £28.55bn. At the 2013 Spending Review the HS2 funding envelope was at £50.1bn (at 2011 prices). This funding allocation was split as follows: Phase One £21.4bn, Phase 2 £21.2bn and Rolling Stock £7.5bn. Spending Review 2013 was the first time a long term funding envelope was established for the HS2 network.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the (1) Domestic and (2) Non-Domestic, Renewable Heat Incentive schemes.

lord henley: We produced a full scheme Impact Assessment in February 2018, prior to the introduction of the latest RHI regulations and deployment data for both schemes is published monthly. This information can be found on the gov.uk website.

Electric Vehicles

lord stoddart of swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have estimated the additional electricity capacity needed to meet their target for diesel and petrol engine vehicles to be phased out by 2040; whether they will publish any such estimates; and what plans they have to ensure any additional electricity demand is met.

lord henley: National Grid published their 2018 Future Energy Scenarios on 12 July (attached) and previously produced a bespoke note on the electricity system impacts of electric vehicles (attached). The level of impact that National Grid presents is readily manageable by the electricity system, and shows the benefits that can be provided through smart charging of electric vehicles. Therefore, the Government has taken powers in the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act to mandate that all charge points sold or installed in the UK must be smart enabled, and we are planning to consult on secondary regulations in the new year. In addition, the Government has established an Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce in order to consider these issues, including the underpinning industry standards and practices that may be required.



 2018 Future Energy Scenarios
(PDF Document, 2.45 MB)




Electricity system impacts of electric vehicles
(PDF Document, 377.3 KB)

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

European External Action Service

lord balfe: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there are countries in which there is a European External Action Service delegation or office and where the UK does not also have an embassy or High Commission; and if so, where.

lord balfe: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there arecountries in which there is no European External Action Service office or delegation and UK diplomatic representation is provided by a UK ambassador resident in another country; and if so, where.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The EEAS website provides a listing of where they hold delegations. As is standard, HMG cannot vouch for the accuracy of information provided by third parties. There is no country where the UK is currently represented or has services provided by the EEAS, whether due to a lack of local UK representation, or any other reason. In most countries, the UK is represented by resident or non-resident Ambassadors. EU Exit will not reduce UK representation overseas.

UK Relations with EU

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they intend to put in place to maintain diplomatic, economic and political relations with the European Union after Brexit; and to what extent any such arrangements will be a continuation of those already in place.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: As the Prime Minister has said, the UK has secured a deal which is in our national interest, and will ensure our smooth and orderly departure from the EU. The Prime Minister has also made clear that our future relationship with the EU should be broader in scope than with any other third country, and that it should allow us to maintain our close diplomatic, economic and political relations. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will play a key role through its network of Posts which are Her Majesty’s Government’s primary tool to influence and engage EU Member States.

Ethiopia: Foreign Relations

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 31 October (HL10897), what assessment they have made of the case for further multilateral partnerships and cooperation to encourage investment in Ethiopia; and how many additional posts for (1) UK officials, and (2) locally engaged staff, have been created at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The British Embassy in Addis Ababa has been working closely with our international and multilateral partners, and through our bilateral programmes, to increase the levels of investment in Ethiopia. We note the $1.2bn World Bank Operation with Ethiopia was approved on 30 October. The Minister for Africa discussed prospects for this, and economic development more widely, when she represented the UK at our annual bilateral aid talks with Ethiopia on 5 October. During her visit, she announced a £66 million package of UK technical assistance to the economic reform process.The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is now finalising the new roles to deliver the new strategic approach to Africa, announced by the Prime Minister on her regional visit. While it is not possible to give final figures at this stage, this is a significant uplift across our African network of posts and will include new roles focussed on supporting growth, trade and economic partnerships in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa more widely.

Mohamed Boshi

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Egypt about the forced repatriation of the Sudanese journalist, Mohamed Boshi.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We are aware of recent reports regarding Mohamed Boshi and are monitoring the case. The UK regularly raises concerns about freedom of expression with the Egyptian Government both in public and private. On 18 September we issued a statement at the UN Human Rights Council in which we raised specific concerns about the 'arrests of activists, bloggers and journalists'. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa also raised concerns over freedom of expression with the Egyptian Foreign Minister during his visit to Cairo on 14 October. I raised concerns over freedom of the media with the Assistant Foreign Minister during my visit to Cairo on 19 November.

Abdullah Öcalan

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they made any representations to the government of Turkey about the petition arranged in 2015 by the International Initiative as part of its Peace in Kurdistan Campaign calling for the release of Abdullah Öcalan; and if so, what response they received from the government of that country.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​We have not made representations to Turkey about this issue. Abdullah Ocalan is the leader of the PKK, a proscribed terrorist group in the UK, EU and US. We continue to urge an end to PKK violence and a return to a peace process.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Counter-terrorism

baroness afshar: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the Prevent Strategy within the NHS as a safeguarding measure to protect those with care and support needs.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Department is committed to ensuring that the National Health Service fully embeds the Prevent Statutory Duty of 2015 within its safeguarding responsibilities.Great strides have been taken to embed Prevent within the health sector to date. For example, since the Prevent Duty made training mandatory over 830,000 NHS staff have received Basic Prevent Awareness training and over 470,000 have attended advanced training.The Department is committed to engaging with relevant professional bodies and ensure that further opportunities to develop bespoke training for health professionals are undertaken.

Palliative Care

baroness finlay of llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the geographical differences in the quality and provision of (1) specialist, and (2) generalist palliative care services across England.

lord o'shaughnessy: As with the vast majority of NHS services, the funding and commissioning of palliative and end of life care is a local matter, over which individual National Health Service commissioners have responsibility. Local commissioners are best placed to understand the needs of local populations and commission services to meet those needs accordingly.In October 2018 Public Health England, in partnership with NHS RightCare, published the first Atlas of variation for palliative and end of life care in England which can be used as a tool by commissioners to better understand the needs of their local population and reduce unwarranted variation. A copy of the Atlas has been placed in the Library due to its size.

Flour: Folic Acid

baroness finlay of llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research into the impact of folic acid flour fortification on the development of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) published risk assessments on folic acid in 2006, 2009 and 2017. The SACN’s, Update on Folic Acid report published in 2017 reconfirmed that its previous recommendation, in 2006 and 2009, for mandatory folic acid fortification to improve the folate status of women most at risk of neural tube defect-affected pregnancies remains unchanged.The report stated that the evidence published since the SACN’s previous reports in 2006 and 2009, on potential adverse effects of folic acid, does not provide a substantial basis for changing this recommendation.A copy of the SACN’s Update on Folic Acid, 2017, is attached.In October the Government announced it will be launching consultation on adding folic acid to flour. This consultation will explore the issues around this complex area and will allow Ministers to take an informed decision on whether to introduce mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid. The timeline for the consultation will be announced shortly.



SACN_Update_on_folic_acid_2017
(PDF Document, 1.56 MB)

Cancer

lord freyberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the economic importance of clinical trial recruitment, especially in cancer research, to the UK economy,and (2) the importance of timely molecular testing in modern cancer trial recruitment; and whether, as a result of any such assessment, NHS England will consider implementing national somatic gene testing in cancers with low survival rates to catalyse research.

lord freyberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment the Chief Scientific Adviser has made of the importance of molecular testing to drive modern cancer trial recruitment, and of the introduction of such testing for which cancers offer the most value to the UKin terms of driving clinical trial recruitment.

lord o'shaughnessy: Clinical trial recruitment is important to the United Kingdom economy, especially in cancer research. For example, an independent report, commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) and produced by KPMG’s Economics team, provided an assessment of the economic impact of the NIHR Clinical Research Network’s activities to support clinical research in the UK. The report estimated the gross value added and employment in the UK from CRN supported clinical research activity. It estimated that in the period April 2014 to March 2015 (financial year 2014/15) this activity generated a total of £2.4 billion gross value added and almost 39,500 jobs. Studies on cancer comprise a major part of CRN activity. A copy of NIHR Clinical Research Network: Impact and Value Assessment is attached.A growing proportion of cancer trials supported by the NIHR involve molecular testing. One of the main purposes of the NIHR is to initiate studies speedily, and deliver them to time and target. Therefore timely molecular testing is important. This involves working with National Health Service pathology services to ensure that all essential steps are in place to deliver research studies.The Chief Scientific Adviser has not made a specific assessment of the importance of molecular testing to drive cancer trial treatment. If a clinical trial that is to be delivered by the NIHR involves somatic gene testing that is not already in place, then the NHS will set up this new somatic gene testing as part of the delivery of the trial. Thus it is the nature of the research that drives clinical trial recruitment rather than the nature of the somatic gene testing that is in place.



NIHR_CRN_Impact_and_Value_Assessment
(PDF Document, 1.8 MB)

Cancer

lord freyberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the UK's (1) one year, and (2) five year cancer survival rates compare to (a) France, (b) Germany, (c) Belgium, and (d) Sweden, as reported in international comparisons such as Eurocare-5; andwhat are the20 cancers by incidence for which the difference in survival rates between the UK and other countries isgreatest.

lord o'shaughnessy: The following table provides data on one-year and five-year relative survival by percentage for all cancer patients diagnosed 2000-07 in England, France, Germany, Belgium and Sweden; age-standardised.One-year and five-year relative survival (%) for all cancer patients diagnosed 2000-2007 in England, France, Germany, Belgium and Sweden; age-standardised.  One yearFive yearEngland68.14%50.20%France77.75%58.62%Germany76.71%59.09%Belgium78.90%60.44%Sweden81.13%64.75% Tables showing one-year relative survival by percentage for all patients diagnosed with 20 cancers 2000-07 in England, France, Germany, Belgium and Sweden; age-standardised and five-year relative survival by percentage for all patients diagnosed with 20 cancers 2000-07 in England, France, Germany, Belgium and Sweden; age-standardised are attached due to the size of the data.The 20 cancers listed in the attached table have the highest numbers of diagnoses in England and are ranked according to the number of diagnoses.The source of this data is EUROCARE.It should be noted that EUROCARE does not provide data for the United Kingdom as a whole. The tables contain information for England only.EUROCARE provides full coverage of the populations of Sweden and England, but only provides 11.1-22.3% national coverage for France; 22.6% for Germany and 58.1% for Belgium.Source: Rossi et al., The EUROCARE-5 study on cancer survival in Europe 1999-2007: Database, quality checks and statistical analytical methods European Journal of Cancer 2015; 51: 2104-19.



HL11503_attachment_formatted
(Word Document, 26.79 KB)

Carers

baroness pitkeathley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures will be included in the NHS Long Term Plan to ensure that unpaid carers are (1) identified, and (2) offered support.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Government is committed to supporting carers to provide care as they would wish, and to do so in a way that supports their own health and wellbeing and other life chances.The Long Term Plan is currently in development and is due to be published later this year. The content of the plan has yet to be determined, but it is anticipated that plan will acknowledge the important role played by unpaid carers.In addition, we set out our commitments to supporting carers in the short-term through the Carers Action Plan 2018-2020: Supporting carers today, published in June. The Plan includes commitments from across Government and the National Health Service. For example, the NHS England and the Care Quality Commission are working together to develop quality standards for general practitioner surgeries to demonstrate how effective they are in identifying and supporting carers. A copy of the Carers Action Plan is attached. We recognise that there is still more to do and that is why the forthcoming Adult Social Care Green Paper will include a focus on how society supports carers as a vital part of a sustainable health and social care system so that they are properly valued, recognised and supported to provide care in a way that supports their own health and wellbeing.



Carers Action Plan
(PDF Document, 484.62 KB)

Department for Education

Children in Care: Further Education

baroness eaton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support relevant authorities are required by law to provide to looked-after children in further education.

lord agnew of oulton: The statutory duty on local authorities, to promote the education of their looked-after children, applies equally to those in further education (FE). This means looked-after children in FE receive support from their authority’s Virtual School Head and have a Personal Education Plan. This plan should help the local authority and education setting monitor and maximise the young person’s progress.Local authorities have a duty to provide financial assistance to care leavers to support their participation in education or training; for example, by contributing to travel costs. In addition, looked-after children in FE are a priority group for the 16 – 19 bursary for defined vulnerable groups, worth up to £1200 a year. Looked-after children or care leavers aged 16 to 24 doing an apprenticeship are eligible for a one-off bursary of £1000 to fund the cost of transition into work and support them in their first year of apprenticeship. If care leavers are following a recognised course of higher education, the authority that looked after them must pay them a one-off bursary of £2000.Universities are independent bodies and are best placed to decide how best to support their students. Many universities already provide a range of support to help enable more vulnerable students to attend their institution and access higher education. For example, The University of Sussex, offers care leavers a bursary of £3,000 cash for every year of study and a £500 study grant, as well as a guaranteed room in a campus-based residence for their entire course, including all holidays.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Childbirth

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many female prisoners gave birth in custody in each of the last five years; and, of those, how many did so in cells.

lord keen of elie: The information is not centrally held and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, all pregnant women in custody have an individual care and management plan that is communicated to all staff and all pregnant women are seen by a mid-wife at least fortnightly or as required.Healthcare in prisons is provided by trained medics and nurses, but we have also made training on dealing with pregnant women available to all prison officers.We know it is extremely rare for a woman to give birth in prison - because every step is taken to get them to hospital - but those unique cases are invariably down to the unpredictability of labour.

Prisoners: Per Capita Costs

lord browne of belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average annual cost of incarcerating a prisoner in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, and (3) 2017.

lord keen of elie: An average cost per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales are routinely published by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year. Information on prison expenditure can be accessed in the Prison and Probation Performance Statistics pages for each financial year on the www.gov.uk website. Prison unit costs can be found within the Excel document titled Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment under the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab. The most recent published figures for financial year 2017-18 can be accessed on the www.gov.uk website from the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2017-to-2018 The table below shows the average annual overall cost per prisoner for financial years 2015-16 to 2017-18.   Financial yearsAverage Annual Overall Cost per prisoner2017-18£37,5432016-17£35,3712015-16£33,931  To note within the table: 1. Figures are expressed in nominal terms as per published for respective years.2. Figures are not always comparable across a period due to changes in accounting treatments and scope of business which do not provide a consistent basis.3. Overall costs include the direct establishment costs plus expenditure met at regional or national level by HMPPS/MOJ.

Department for Work and Pensions

Poverty

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish a response to the Statement on the Visit to the UK by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, published on 16 November.

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the finding by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights that 14 million people live in poverty in the UK.

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the finding by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights that 1.5 million people in the UK are destitute.

baroness buscombe: The Government will consider the Special Rapporteur’s findings carefully. Although it disagrees with the conclusion of this interim report, the Government has noted that the report welcomes the simplification of the benefits system brought in by Universal Credit and the recent Budget announcements to help tackle in-work poverty.The 14 million people in poverty figure used by the Special Rapporteur was taken from the Social Metrics Commission report “A new measure of poverty for the UK”. We welcome the work that the Social Metrics Commission has done. Measuring poverty is complex, and this report offers further insight into that complexity. We are engaging with the Social Metrics Commission, who acknowledge that further work needs to be done (particularly around data availability and quality). We will carefully consider their recommendations and the detail behind the methodology they have employed when this has been made available. DWP publishes a range of measures that track various aspects of poverty. These include four measures for low income poverty:  Number of people in low income (millions)Percentage of people in low income (%)Low Income Measure2009/102016/172009/102016/17Relative Before Housing Costs10.410.41716Relative After Housing Cost13.614.32222Absolute Before Housing Costs9.98.91614Absolute After Housing Costs13.112.42119 The finding relating to the number of people in destitution is a misinterpretation of the key finding from a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Trust on 7 June, 2018: “Destitution in the UK, 2018”. This report found that 1.5 million people in the UK had been destitute at some point during 2017 and also noted that this was a reduction of 25 per cent compared with 2015. Under this Government, income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

UN Convention on Biological Diversity

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will be represented at the forthcoming meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

lord gardiner of kimble: Dr Thérèse Coffey MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment, and Government officials represented the UK Government at the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Non-native Species

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to combat the threat to biodiversity from biological invaders.

lord gardiner of kimble: This Government takes the threat to biodiversity posed by invasive species seriously and is committed to preventing any damage and continuing to mitigate risk. As part of these efforts the GB Invasive Non-Native Species Strategy, first published in 2008 and reviewed in 2015, operates to ensure coordinated action across Great Britain. This strategy follows internationally recognised principles and priorities of prevention, rapid eradication and management. For example, since the arrival of the Asian hornet in France in 2004, Defra has been aware of the increased risk of this hornet to our bees and beneficial insects. We have plans in place to detect and tackle it, which we have successfully deployed several times since the first UK incursion in autumn 2016.   The Governments of each UK administration are putting into place penalties and sanction regimes for the EU Regulation 1143/2014 on Invasive Alien Species, a core provision of which is the creation of a list of species subject to strict restrictions. These species cannot be imported, kept, bred, transported, sold, used or exchanged, allowed to reproduce, grown or cultivated, or released into the environment. There are currently 49 species listed under the regulation.

Home Office

Undocumented Migrants

lord browne of belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what locations non-UK citizens attempting to enter the UK illegally were apprehended in (1) 2015–16, and (2) 2016–17.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office is unable to disclose the requested information as it would substantially prejudice the operation of border controls by providing information to potential offenders allowing an opportunity for them to circumvent current systems and procedures used for the security of the UK border.

Offences against Children

lord campbell-savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the review of Operation Midland cost.

baroness williams of trafford: Sir Richard Henriques was commissioned by the then Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to review the actions of the force in investigating allegations of non-recent sexual offences said to have been committed by prominent public individuals.This included Operation Midland. The cost of this review is a matter for the Metropolitan Police Service.

Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry

lord campbell-savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has cost to date.

baroness williams of trafford: The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse publishes financial statements on a quarterly basis on its website https://www.iicsa.org.uk/. The most recent financial statement, covering the Inquiry’s 2018/19 spend as at 30 September 2018, can be found here: https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/7553/view/inquiry-financial-report-q2-2018-19-ending-30-september-2018.pdf An overview of this expenditure is set out in the table below:Item Expenditure – FY 2018-19Staffing costs £5,058,459Legal cost £5,554,764Safeguarding and other services for victims and survivors £1,868,934Estates** £1,454,822Information Technology £1,489,083Consultancy & Specialist Services £996,330Stationery and office supplies £27,801Information Commissioner’s Office Penalty £160,000Operation Hydrant (Ring-Fenced) £401,950* Operating costs for the Operation Hydrant team which receives referrals from the Inquiry.Operation Hydrant was set up to coordinate the response of police forces for non-recentchild abuse.** Estates incorporates expenditure for the Hearing Centre.12. FURTHER DETAILS OF EXPENDITURE RELATING TO CHAIR, PANEL MEMBERSAND SECRETARYProfessor Alexis Jay OBEThe table below shows a breakdown of the contractual cost for Professor Alexis Jay as herterms of appointment published on the Inquiry’s website, along with expenses claimed forbusiness related travel.Detail Total spend as of 30 September 2018Salary £93,425Accommodation allowance £18,480Expenses £312Panel membersThe table below shows the amount spent on each of the Panel members in relation toremuneration and expenses covering as of the end of 30 September 2018.Detail Remuneration Notes ExpensesDrusilla SharplingCBE£76,212 The Inquiry covers 80% of DrusillaSharpling’s HMIC salary for 4 out of 5days work for the Inquiry per week.£555Prof. Sir MalcolmEvans KCMG OBE£27,120 48 days at a rate of £565/day £3,448Ivor Frank £75,428 133.5 days at a rate of £565/day £2,521Secretary



Inquiry Financial Report - 2018-19 
(PDF Document, 99.46 KB)

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

baroness finlay of llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many overseas students attending (1) English, and (2) Welsh universities were delayed in starting their courses this autumn due to delays in visa processing.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office does not hold the data requested.The most recent published data shows that 99.4% of straightforward Tier 4 applications were dealt with within service standards.(Table Visa_02,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-august-2018 )



International Operations Transparency - Aug 2018 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 66.29 KB)

Department for Exiting the European Union

Overseas Workers: Germany

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they are making for UK citizens to be able to work in Germany after the UK has left the European Union; and what advice, if any, they provide to those who wish to do so.

lord callanan: UK nationals residing in Germany before the end of the implementation period will fall under the protection of the Withdrawal Agreement and will be able to continue to live their life broadly as they do now.Equal treatment principles will continue to apply for UK nationals covered under the Withdrawal Agreement, meaning they will continue to be eligible to apply and be considered for work on an equal basis after the end of the implementation period, with nationals of their host member state as under current EU rules.As part of future relationship, we want to agree reciprocal mobility arrangements with the EU that will support businesses to provide services and move their talented people and allow people to travel visa-free for temporary business activity.

British Nationals Abroad: Greece

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they are making for UK citizens to be able to buy property in Greece after the UK has left the European Union; and what advice, if any, they provide to those who wish to do so.

lord callanan: UK nationals are bound and protected by Greek domestic law when purchasing and selling property in Greece, in the same way that the law of the UK protects property rights in the UK. We do not expect that the UK’s exit from the EU will change this.

Treasury

Brexit: Costs

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of what the cost to the UK Government of leaving the European Union will be in each year until 2039.

lord bates: The Government has today laid before Parliament a Written Ministerial Statement entitled “Exiting the European Union – publications” and published cross-Whitehall analysis of the economic and fiscal effects of leaving the EU. The fiscal impacts are available on p. 71-76 of this document, “EU Exit: Long-term economic analysis, November 2018”, which is available on Gov.uk and from the Printed Paper Office.

Customs Officers: Northern Ireland

lord browne of belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatthey estimate was the cost of training HM Revenue and Customs officers in Northern Ireland in the use of vehicle stop and search powers in each of the last two years.

lord bates: The cost is nil as no training has been delivered.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Television: Royalties

lord browne of belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, for the future regulation of television content royalty payments.

lord ashton of hyde: The Government has no plans. Following the government’s decision to repeal Section 73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) conducted a technical consultation which looked at the broadcast rights market, the position of rights holders and whether new regulations would need to be introduced following the repeal. The consultation concluded that there was no need for new regulations as there are already extensive commercial rights agreements in place between relevant parties, which would be capable of factoring in new rights.

The Senior Deputy Speaker

College Green: Mass Media

lord hylton: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what assessment he has made of the disruption caused by the media’s use of College Green; and what consideration, if any, is being given to the establishment of a permanent media centre elsewhere on the Parliamentary Estate.

lord mcfall of alcluith: Abingdon Green is owned by the House of Commons but day to day access is delegated by the Clerk of the House to Black Rod. Current policy is to allow public access to the Green to enable them to pass through on the paths or to use it as a recreational space. Because of the unique views that the Green affords to Parliament, we also allow the media to use the Green for the contemporaneous news reporting of events within Parliament on the basis that this is an important way of communicating to the public the political issues that are taking place. We do not permit protests or campaigning on the Green.There are occasions when events in Parliament create exceptional media activity and demand for broadcasting space on the Green. When this occurs, we conduct a careful assessment on whether to prioritise broadcasting over public access and where the balance of public interest lies. Although we prefer to maintain dual use of the Green by public and media, on some occasions we assess that reporting from the Green must be prioritised and that it is necessary to close it to the public for safety reasons. Not to do so would limit the ability of a wide section of the broadcast media, both national, international and radio to provide high quality coverage of unfolding events in Parliament and interview the politicians involved in a secure manner.Regarding a permanent media centre, no consideration is currently being given to this. Most media (including broadcast) arrangements are covered through the existing press lobby arrangements. Under this, nominated members of the media are accredited with membership of the Press Gallery and allocated desk space within the House of Commons and given press passes which allow access to the building. This is a long standing arrangement administered by the House of Commons with well understood rules which enables open media access to Parliament to be maintained within manageable levels.Additionally, as well as Abingdon Green, there are broadcast points within both Houses which are used by UK domestic broadcasters for the reporting of Parliamentary business.